Teen Health

December 16, 2012

Just two days have passed since the heartbreaking events in a
small town in New England, just miles from where I grew up as a child and where
high school friends are now raising their families. Yet, one doesn't need to live
near the scene of such a tragic, unthinkable act of violence to confront the disbelief and
anguish facing the children and families in that community, for we can all
imagine ourselves in the village of Sandy Hook, CT. We all remember what it was
like to be a small child in a bustling classroom full of color and wonder.

My daughters, Josie (12) and Sophie (15) knew about the
event in Connecticut before they even got off the school bus on Friday. Growing up today in a hyperconnected, play-by-play world offers little chance for reflection, ponder or protection of a harsh reality. Facebook updates, tweets from Justin
Bieber and Rianna, and Instagrams of affirmations sped through the social networks
like wildfire, before parents could even absorb the news and figure out how to
discuss it at home.

My seventh grader, stealing some moments on my iPad to check
her Instagram profile on Friday evening flashed before me an image of a (supposed)
child’s note to parents while in a school lockdown along the lines of “I’m sorry I was a bad kid.” “He was shot minutes
later!” she exclaimed. Ooookay, then. Opportunity
for discussion about misinformation, why she took my iPad without asking, and
reviewing again which friends she’s connected to, I thought. (Best to find a
quiet moment over the weekend for that.) Not minutes later my teen came home
from a friend’s house, walked past us parents who muted the TV. “I hate this
story,” she announced as she stomped off to bed. Yah, me too.

Earlier in the week Sophie had
babysat for two little girls, who wanted extra hugs before bedtime; it was a
moment she delighted in (they are about the same ages as my girls once were, pictured here). Part of growing up is to realize you have the
privilege and power to comfort and care as a basic human condition. This is
especially so when it happens outside the family. The world becomes bigger and
you discover that you can make a
difference in other people's lives, even for a moment.

While parents regroup and muster up inner calm to engage
with their kids, teenagers are already digesting and coping with the news online and offline. The hard part to witness is how my
teens are beginning to believe “This happens all the time now.” Now, as in their short lifetime. That’s how I understood it from my Josie.

Last year, I received a text from Sophie, an ‘I love you’ in
the middle of the day. I thought
it was a joke, given that we were in a phase where I was just too uncool to
relate to. It turned out the middle school was presenting Rachel’s Challenge to the 8th
graders, a nonprofit organization created after the death of Rachel Joy Scott,
a teen victim in the Columbine school shooting. The mission is to educate
students about bullying, create safe environments for students, and to initiate
a chain reaction of kindness. Sadly, since that school presentation a number of
tragic public events have occurred; the most recent being the July shooting at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, on opening night of The Dark Knight. The anticipation of going to an opening
night has for many teens (and parents) been stripped away as one of the joys
of adolescence. Who could trust anyone dressed in character now?

Of course, based on sheer risk facts and numbers, these mass
shootings are rare events. Yet, they punch a deep wound in the national psyche
and foster an unrelenting low-grade anxiety in our homes and schools. Teens turn to their friends, though,
for support and comfort. Parents
can be there for them, guide them, even unplug the media at home as best as
possible, but it’s friends they turn to. It’s with friends that teens can talk to
or not. No heavy discussion. They just can be.

Yet, when things are too big and too awful to fully comprehend,
what can friends do to support each other? Here are some things I’ve observed from
the teens in my life and those I’ve come to know in my practice:

Do nothing. Just hang out and find comfort in
the presence of trusted friends. Practicing mindfulness – or being fully
present in the moment without judging yourself or others. This is a skill to be
nurtured by one self and among others.

Do something small. Reach out; engage in an act
of kindness; show your friends and family that you care. Bake brownies or do a
chore you would otherwise avoid.

Do something big. Step outside of yourself and be courageous… something that
might make you a bit uncomfortable even if you know it's the right thing to do.
Say hello to someone you typically might not pay attention to or reach out to
someone who is otherwise invisible. Stand up to someone who’s ridiculing or
bullying another person. Or, stand up for yourself.

Practice Gratitude. Everyday brings gifts if you
pay attention to the wonder of your world. Even in dark times there are moments of joy, delight, hope, and
serendipity in nature, at home, or with friends.

Avoid comparing yourself. This is really hard to practice in a
world of judgment and perfectionism. Many of us measure self-worth through our perceptions and culutral expectations, i.e., what you believe others might think about you – like comparing what we
look like, our body image, what we have or don’t have, who deserves more or
less, or feeling like you have no
right to complain or be sad compared to others.These are the seeds of
self-doubt and shame. It takes daily practice
to be aware of and fend off unhelpful social comparisons.

Show compassion. First, have empathy for yourself. Know that you are worthy, loveable, and
irreplaceable. Then, sprinkle that kindness and compassion onto others. How do you show empathy for yourself?
For others?

Create. Draw, paint, write, sing, dance,
build. Use your imagination to express
your feelings, thoughts, desires and hopes. Being creative allows you to immerse yourselves in the present
moment and in the beauty and ingenuity of your mind to imagine new ideas, things
and possibilities.

Volunteer. Be involved in something that goes
beyond just clocking in community service hours in order to graduate. Don’t do the minimal, but try to
stretch yourself a bit farther. You’ll likely find that you get more out of volunteering than you
thought.

Be hopeful. While the world will bring sorrow and joy, disappointment and
triumph, all of us will experience conflict, grief, pain and loss. It’s how we learn to cope with challenges
that enable us to have the grit to soldier on. Hope allows us to imagine
something better or wonderful, to set goals and persevere. What do you hope for
yourself? For others?

Stay
connected. Human beings are wired for connection and belonging. It’s when those
connections breakdown or disappear that suffering ensues. Ask for help; offer
help. Reach out your hand. We’re all in this together …in one way or another.

And for parents? Can you model for your child these ways of being in the world? After all, they soak in everything about you, no matter what you say. Be the person you want your kids to be.

September 03, 2011

I haven't posted in a while because we've been very, very busy at BodiMojo.com.

First, we got some great results from our field test of BodiMojo.com used in high school health classes. Hint: Girls exposed to Bodimojo.com over one month improved their attitudes about their own body image compared to girls who didn't use the site, especially around how they feel about their physical appearance and in comparing themselves to others). Read more from Boston Globe blog post. Now we recrafting the girl interactive tools into a new "Girls Confidence" dashboard, and my teenage daugther and her friends have been helping out. Stay tuned for that this fall!

Second, we optmized the bodimojo site for mobile smaarthones, to now it's easy for teens to set and update thier health goals.

Third, we pulled some of our tools into a Facebook app. Here's the scoop from our Bodimojo blog:

So what's mojo anyway? At BodiMojo for teens we consider it your personal charm, the moment you feel most fully yourself, comfortable, confident... no self-judgment. In the zone. Mojo is also the kind of feeling or state of being you want to share, kind of like paying it forward. So we've gathered a few of the BodiMojo.com tools and packaged them into an app on Facebook: My Mojo. Five things you can do once you "allow" the app:

(1) Take a mojo quiz. We've posted 4 quizzes in the app but have many more on bodimojo.com. Be sure to check out and share with friends.

(2) Visualize your mood with the Mojo Mood Cloud. Feeling freaked out, joyful, silly, emo? Tag your moods here! (The Mood Cloud is on main site and log in is required for all personalized tools).

(3) Send friends a virtual gift to boost their mood or cheer 'em on via email or post on FB wall. We have some cool animations created by our friends at Doink. The 10 teen winners of a recent contest created some awesome art, so support the artists and your friends at the same time. A win win! (DoInk artist, Syas, created volleyball girl.)

(4) Get a BodiMojo Snapshot into your health habits. The app allows you to connect via Facebook to BodiMojo.com where you can get personalized feedback on your lifestyle habits. Just visit the My Page section where you'll find your "Health Mojo" -- nutrition, fitness, body image attitudes, stress and more. So instead of hearing the same old, same old about what it takes to be healthy, you get customized feedback. How refreshing!

(5) Once you're on the BodiMojo's My Page you can create personal health goals, and set up email or text updates, too. You earn points every step of the way. And there's lots more content to check out.

Of course, we want your feedback, too. Teens have helped shape the site and we want to keep working at it to improve your experience! Tell us on Facebook!

April 26, 2011

No, it’s not Casual Friday. It’s a Wednesday, April 26, 2011. It's time to throw on a pair of jeans.

Well, ok. Everyday can be a jeans day for some of us, especially us techy shrinks. But Denim Day marks a moment in the calendar year to raise awareness and to educate youth on sexual violence and teen dating abuse. The name comes from a legal case in Italy where a judge overturned a rape conviction because the female victim wore tight jeans to the court hearing.

I am not wearing jeans today. Instead, I dressed up for a luncheon hosted by MomCentral and sponsored by the Start Strong initiative, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in collaboration with the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF). What’s significant about this program is that it is the largest funded national initiative aimed at preventing relationship violence and abuse among young people. Its mission is to promote healthy relationship behaviors – among 11 to 14 year olds.

Teen dating violence is a major problem – and one that can extend into later relationships and have significant consequences for safety and quality of life. Maybe the most startling fact, even for those of us in the mental health profession, are the statistics that as many as 1 in 5 teenage girls and 1 in 10 teen boys have been physically or sexually abused by a partner (Journal of Pediatrics, 2007). A more recent study on 6th graders reveals that half of the youngsters surveyed reported having been in a “dating” relationship and 42% report being victims of “dating” violence (Journal of Early Adolescence, 2009)

Whether you believe the stats or not it doesn’t take much to see that the sexualization of youth and violence in the media is everywhere, providing very poor role models indeed. Compound that with the astonishing rate of cell phone use and texting by tweens and teens today and dating harassment has found a new route.

Start Strong intends to foster a grass roots movement involving all stakeholders: teens, parents, caregivers, educators, healthcare professionals, domestic violence advocates, and community leaders. The goal is to build environments that support healthy relationships and prevent violence and abuse. The gathering today evoked a lively discussion on how to begin a dialog with our children about these tough issues, and importantly, how do we model “healthy“ relationships that our kids keenly observe – in our own homes and with our partners, friends, and co-workers. Are we being mindful of our own relationships?

Next week my 11-year-old daughter will see the movie. She informed me of this recently. I thought out loud: Is the last Harry Potter movie out already? No, Mom, “The Movie!” she motioned with quotation fingers.

Right. THE MOVIE. The 5h grade puberty education session is coming up. I previewed it two years ago when my older daughter endured it (one of my rants). It’s a disappointment: Abstract images of fallopian tubes, a sample of a tampon, and a really corny short film on female anatomy and sweat glands. I suppose, if anything, the disembodied nature of the presentation and the confusion it evokes might spur some parents to provide more clarity on reproductive health and personal hygiene. Some schools are now offering mother-daughter, father-son education sessions.

Now imagine if this 5th grade education went beyond the one hour of puberty education and instead was extended over the course of the semester - and all of middle school years - to embrace what it means to go through puberty, what healthy relationships look like, and how to comfortably navigate the social jungle of adolescence?

Start Strong is pioneering its program in 11 US cities. We can only hope the success is immediate, so that all tweens, families and communities can benefit.

September 27, 2010

I suppose it is really heartening to know that people are trying to educate our youth on being responsible digital natives. Let’s throw all we got at them, including the law, and see what works. (The Massachusetts law that bans talking and texting for teens and forbids texting for all drivers takes effect this week, 9/30/10).

Today, PBS launched a free online game, Webonauts Internet Academy. The site states: "The Webonauts Internet Academy empowers kids to make responsible and respectful decisions in their online interactions." The first lesson is remembering the game motto: Observe, respect, contribute. (A game hint for the grown-ups attempting to play.) It’s geared to a younger audience. In fact, a tween or teen might not have the patience for it, so other strategies are needed for the cohort that is apt to show the least self-control when online. PBS is taking a responsible step here to get at 'em early. The Girls Scouts of America also has a website, as does MTV (A Thin Line), and there are many other initiatives to encourage young people to think before they text or post, use or abuse social technology.

These efforts come at a time when educators are trying to figure out how to help kids understand the complex issues around privacy and digital citizenship; and tactically, such education is often is thrown into the cyberbully prevention silo -- because most kids can relate to bullying on some visceral level and schools will fund prevention. The larger issue of responsible online citizenship has yet to take hold.

Recent qualitative research from Harvard, the GoodPlay Project, suggests that tweens’ and teens’ perceptions of social media interactions are largely egocentric (no surprise), with little sense of responsibility for self or others. It is what the research team calls a “prevalence of consequence thinking” among teens -- in other words, only attending to how online activity affects them personally. While the researchers found that some teens engage in moral thinking around online engagement, which includes the concepts of the golden rule and fairness, such interpersonal responsibility was not dominant. Moreover, rare among the teens interviewed, was ethical or higher order thinking, in which one can envision a role in the larger digital community and holding a greater purpose than the self. These observations were derived from interviews with adolescents. (See Mashable’s video on researcher Carrie James’ talk at the recent Social Good Summit.)

Without seeing the research report, and before making judgments about youth, it seems that one must take into account adolescent developmental and cognitive abilities, too. Some kids will be able to think abstractly, problem solve, and act ethically, but others aren’t yet able to grasp these concepts. At this age, neural networks are sprawling out in all sorts of directions, and the pruning and fine tuning of certain cognitive abilities that allow for mature thinking just hasn’t happened yet. Certainly, a 17-year old constructs his world differently than a 12-year old.

Consider how online interactions are often immediate, social, sensation-seeking activities, pumping the reward system in the teen brain. Consider also that teens often stop thinking rationally when in a crowd, online or offline. Common sense goes out the window in pack mentality. This is not to let them off the hook, just to suggest that it’s more complex than a lack of ethical thinking.

This is a generation of kids who are raised to take social action, too. They love causes and carwashes; they vote on the best public service or good deeds; and are more apt to purchase material goods and services by companies that embrace a social mission or funnel part of the purchase price toward a donation.

They just can’t connect all the dots yet.

So I’m back to throwing everything we’ve got to educate youth at all stages of development, repeatedly, and to their maturational and cognitive phases. It seems to me you have to educate, educate, educate -- across the lifespan. This includes the grown-ups. If we want our youth to grow up as model citizens, we need to model that behavior for them. Some parents I know can’t detach from their blackberries or laptops (not even at their kids sporting events on a Saturday). To wit, my tween recently said to me: "Mom, is your job to write emails all day?" Then there are those “friends” from high school past who share unusual tidbits of information (think FB) -- and to what end? Adults often seem to be the most awkward of learners when it comes to online activity. Maybe it is as simple as reflecting on a simple message or maybe it’s putting some new skills into action.

September 14, 2010

Today, kids spend
almost 8 hours a day using entertainment media – the equivalent of a full time
job (Kaiser Family Foundation).Moreover,
kids are darn good at “media multi-tasking.” They pack in over 10 hours of
media content, which means that they are looking at, listening, or playing with
a few media devices at the same time for
at least a couple hours of a day. Let’s assume most of this happens after school, with scholarly endeavors
relegated to a part-time job.

Enter the cell phone
stats.Teens send on average 112
text messages each day or over 3360 messages a month. The majority (84%) of
teens with cell phones sleep with their coveted devices under their
pillow or near by.How sweet. Girls, socialized to socialize, tend to
be more text agile – with 86% of girls
text messaging friends several times a day vs. 64% of boys.

To make matters
worse, a day doesn’t go by without news of the obesity crisis among children,
the costs of the medical outcomes to health and society, and so on. It is a big
deal.

Then there is, to boot, the incessant daily
exposure to thousands of media messages of sex, violence and unrealistic images
of beauty that have dominated our visual landscape for decades via TV, movies,
and billboards, presumably incubating a nation of impulsive, distracted youth – prone to either anorexia or obesity –
and who are, as a whole, losing
educational ground compared to the youth of other nations.

Oh wait. There’s
more on the radar of concerned elders. Now the physical distance to media is
just a matter of millimeters. We wear our technology. Earphones, headsets, game
consoles, joysticks, dance pads and pedometers. There is the neurological
implication that kids’ brains are being subtly rewired during a critical phase
of brain development, or poisoned with microwaves from the guts of mobile
technology.

Digital kids are out
of control!! What are we to do?

[A pause for
reflection.]

With whom do these children live, may I ask? Is anybody home?

A recent survey by Partnership for a Drug-Free America
indicated that over a third of parents are concerned that technology has
impeded communication about risk behavior topics like drugs and alcohol use. Technology is now to bame for lack of heart-to-heart chats with our kids.

Who buys these kids their technology?

Here’s the thing. Technology, the Internet, mobile devices
are here to stay.They are a
medium – neither good nor bad.For
American teens, computers are primarily learning and entertainment tools; and cell
phones – well, cell phones are cultural currency. For most of the world, they
are lifelines. No one is getting rid of these gadgets any time soon.

How modes of
technology are used, manipulated, and managed can be either good or bad, or
both. So let’s stop blaming the kids for being tech junkies. (They are getting
tired of you anyway, with 30% of teens leaving Facebook because it’s just not cool anymore to “friend” the extended family).

Might it be time
that the grown ups take stock of the situation – perhaps set some rules and
limits so there is room for some old fashioned human connection?

Let me throw out
some ideas I’ve heard around the block:

Have family mealtime (set a goal, like at least 3 dinners a
week)

Turn off media and cell phones at mealtime
and talk. Yep, have a conversation or at least try. Avoid questions that can end in a monosyllable. (Hey Jake, what was the high point of your day? Tell me one
thing that surprised you at school today. What’s the coach’s strategy this
season? What did you think of that news story of the teen drunk diver?)

No entertainment media until homework is
done.

No entertainment media during the school
week. OMG!

All cell phones in back packs at night.

No cell phone use while driving.

No computer/screens an hour before bedtime
(let those brain cells relax).

Yes, let’s take a step back and reflect. It is remarkable
that over 90% of American teenagers over
age 12 go online and over 80% use computers at school.It is remarkable that over 90% of teens
either own or have access to a household mobile phone.It is remarkable that smart use of the Internet
and social media fostered civic-minded young adults to get out the vote at the
last presidential election. It is remarkable that more people donate to, or
volunteer for, charities because of technology-based communications. It is remarkable that working or
traveling parents can stay in touch with their children and have some peace of
mind. It is amazing that we can
use these tools, and other wireless devices, to monitor health, like blood
pressure, blood sugar, and physical activity steps. In other words, we can
leverage technology for the social good.

The connected parent
is a connected parent. Emotionally connected, that is. Even if parental efforts
are dissed by impertinent teens, the effort counts for something. (I can speak
from experience.) They do listen on many levels. They feel it when you pay
attention.

Technology is
peripheral to having an authentic and sustaining relationship with our
children.

We want to reverse
the obesity epidemic? Foster smart, creative, empathic children? Raise the
social and emotional intelligence of future generations?

August 17, 2010

I’m happy to say I ventured down to NYC recently to attend the BlogHer10 conference. It was sold out with 2400 attendees; 99% women. Yaow!

As a newbie to social media and the blogosphere I was pretty impressed with the instant camaraderie and support. With lots of chatter EVERYWHERE it was like floating through vapors of estrogen, in which the innate ability to congregate, connect, and chitchat was infectious. Although cliques were apparent as in any congregation of the female species, in this atmosphere, it was about common interests and one could sit at just about any table or row and strike up a dialog. I couldn’t hold a conversation for three days afterward my cheeks were sore from laughing. Considering that blogging is a bit like scrapbooking, as Amy Wilson suggested, here are a few notables for me to remember.

My Five BlogHer10 Moments

1. I actually won something. Yes, I think it may be the first time ever. I won a half of day media training with Ketchum, a big deal consulting firm in NY. I met 4 amazing bloggers and writers (Motherload, Miss Britt, The Centsible Life, and Sarah’s Cucina Bella). Intimidated would be an understatement, yet these women were finding their footing, too, in one way or another in different phases of their blogging adventures. Thank you to all. It was one of the few times I really got see myself on camera: huffs, snorts, blinks, umms and all. Best part… I got over The Fear.

2. My Faves among "Voices of the Year" was an ode to the vagina. Really, it wasn't that kind of feminist-no-holds-barred conference at all.There were so many amazing women (and a man) to inspire budding bloggers, but I have to say my favorite speaker was Lissa Rankin, a GYN and founder of Owning Pink. Her March 29, 2010 post was better heard than read: “What? We can’t say vagina?” Once I went to the OwningPink.com and saw all the “mojo” tips – of course I was tickled pink –no pun intended. Maybe bodimojo.com for teens can take some lessons from Owning Pink and v. versa. I mean, come on, a rose is a rose is a rose.

3. Women’s intuition rocks. I even got a “reading” from an advice columnist, The Bloggess. She sat at a table with an antique Smith-Corona typing psychic poetry for people. I may be ruining any karma from that moment but she typed: “You tell all your secrets and we love you for it. now tell us everyone else’s secret.” She did not know I am a psychologist and I hold all secrets dear! I confess, however, I do wear my heart on my sleeve. Check out her blog, The Bloggess. Her tagline: "Like Mother Teresa, only better.” I now have humor envy.

4. Na nah na na nah.

For once, I could out do my girls after this weekend with the lalala banter, “Guess what I did today?” Yes, girls, I saw your contemporary tweeny heart throb of the season, Greyson Chance, a 12-year-old singer, pianist, songwriter protégé. He debuted a new song no less. (In case you didn’t know, Greyson was introduced to the world by Ellen DeGeneres for being another YouTube phenomena, re: a rendition of Lady Gaga's Paparazzi at a middle school chorus recital. He has signed on to Ellen's record label.) I even got a button with his picture for my jean jacket. So there.

5. There’s Nothing To Lose. That was the spirit of the conference. With some fresh media training behind me (ala #1) I got up the nerve to go to the YahooShine "reinvention" booth and be interviewed. With some nervous breathing and snippets of my too serious self, I think I survived it ok. But my first thought on seeing the clip: “You should lose 10lbs!” How sick is that? Founder of a website to empower teens to love their bodies, take control of their health, find their mojo – and here I am with my 13-year-old self out in full force. This is just more personal evidence that body dissatisfaction is hard to shake at any age! But I recalibrated. Awareness is the first step; I reassured myself and told that younger part: Life brings us unexpected gifts. Embrace them.

July 16, 2010

So kids are more stressed
out than parents think. That’s what the Stress in America survey showed by the
American Psychological Association.Tweens and teens are reporting tell tale symptoms of stress such as
headaches and poor sleep.What
else? Kids worried about finances and their future.In tough economic times, who wouldn’t be soaking up the
societal stress, too? And according to the report, the disconnect among what
teens and parents report is pretty discrepant. Ok, Ok, there may be a reporting
bias. Parents answering the survey probably wanted to give the right answers
suggesting the positive health of their children; maybe the teens did, too
(it's called social desirability). But for heaven's sake, when almost half of
tweens and teens are indicating they are stressed out and only 1 of 10 parents
see that, there seems to be a problem.

Tweens (30%) and teens (42%) say they get headaches vs. 13% of parents

Now I remember not telling
my mother much of anything once I was in high school; she just didn’t seem to
get it.If anything, she complained
that I stayed up too late doing homework and that I slept too much on
weekends.She never understood why
I had to have certain clothes or shoes… so I just up and got a job a soon as I
could. (Jobs for teens these days?) So from a teen point of view - why bother explaining it all? That may be the sentiment of most teens,
too.After all, they're trying to be
more independent and manage things on their own. Even in a culture where
parenting has become more causal and friend-like, teens are still carving out
their private lives. Major kid stressors include school work and peer relationships.
Easier to chock that up to normal adolescence, parental amnesia, or dismissal (“When
I was kid things were much tougher.”“You don’t know how easy you have it.”) That parents underestimate the
stress their children face is not all that surprising.But the degree of difference in
perception is.

It calls for more education
to help youth cope and learn ways to manage stress. It would help if parents
could learn stress management skills and model them, too.Things like relaxation and downtime,
deep breathing, considering alternative perspectives on a problem (cognitive
reframing), taking a witnessing stance (rather than blame), practicing
assertiveness and communication skills, and getting support. Helping parents understand the teen
brain is key, too. Much more is known brain development that puts a lot of teen
quirkiness into perspective. But here I am.I’ve been teaching mind-body skills to medical patients for many
years and constantly say these are life skills.Why aren’t we teaching them early on?

There is plenty of research
evidence that shows that health promotion and stress management programs work –
for kids at risk due to social or economic circumstances, who have medical
conditions, and suffer with anxiety or depressive symptoms.But all children need these skills.Such skills promote self-esteem and a
sense of self-control – and could prevent the high risk taking that many teens
engage in to either self-soothe, avoid stress, or feel connected (like substance
use, disordered eating, early initiation of sexual behavior or dropping out of
school, to name a few).I suppose
the good news is that the last several Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance surveys
show a decrease in high-risk behaviors that can lead to early death (more kids
wear seat belts and less kids drink alcohol or binge), which suggests that
prevention programs may be working.But there are many other symptoms that exist below the radar of extremes
that don’t get much attention. Well, as we mind-body teachers say: Awareness is
the first step.

May 28, 2010

I brace myself every spring for the end of school year
festivities: proms, graduations, senior pranks, and the beginning of summer
concert series.Every spring there
is a headline or two of the latest teen tragedy related to alcohol use. Indeed,
the leading cause of death among teens is alcohol related injuries, followed by
suicide.Kinda depressing. But if
you consider the larger context, most teens survive adolescence.Few die of natural causes and disease,
so that pretty much leaves the unnatural incidents to account for why young
people die. Even though every season the press and local papers post stories,
memorials or updates from last year’s losses with prevention messages for this
year, it’s just a matter of time.

For me it’s a low grade, visceral feeling.We lost a member of our graduating
class when I was a high school senior – on the night of our graduation. I’ll
spare the details but the losses were deep. (This was in the 80s and efforts were
just beginning to draw attention to safety and prevention.)The following year the boy who crashed
into our fellow classmate driving full speed – and on speed – from
another party, committed suicide. They had been friends.

The father, who held the graduation party – the coolest,
most lovable dad around town – who thought through how to best serve us kids
(and parents), created a gated party, took everyone’s keys, and provided kegs
of beer.In fact, it was a very
civil affair on a beautiful June evening. Didn’t matter. MADD sued him for
providing alcohol to minors. Let’s say quite a number of lives were affected
and our class was forever fractured. Reunions occurred on off years and there
were half-hearted attempts at gatherings. Mostly, we simply dispersed across
the nation harvesting our new adult lives.(Facebook reunited many of us 25 years later – as
we parent our own teens.)

Prevention has come a long way since then.Students sleep over in auditoriums, are
asked to take educational classes, hear parents and peer advocates tell their
traumatic stories, or view displays of mangled cars on the school lawn.Tons of prevention, fear-engendering
videos are on uTube. You’d think it would work a bit better.

The hope (and prayer) here is that people still keep on
trying to get the message out.

The Children’s Hospital in Boston has just launched a new program
for parents of teens. “Fifteen Minutes to Save Your Teen’s Life” is sponsored
by the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research.Dr. John Knight founded the program and
appears as the avucular medical expert on www.teen-safe.org.It is an interactive tutorial for
parents intended to help them engage with their teens about substance use.A certificate is received at the end
the program. The local high school in the town where I live is requiring all
parents of graduating students to take it.This is a good idea.

In fact, all parents of incoming freshman should take it,
too.There is, of course, Parents:The AntiDrug–
a terrific organization,
but I’m not sure parents are all that aware of it or even seek out information.
(It’s called denial and disassociation from one’s own adolescent years.)

A number of years ago a colleague of mine created a
computer game called Crash Site. This was intended for teens getting their
driver’s license. The program is a virtual environment of a car crash scene. The
players gather clues about the crash from a doctor, a lawyer, a peer, and a
policeman as they answer questions about their own risk factors for substance
abuse. Clever.

But year after year the tragedies still occur.One parent recently said to me that
it's like “a weird survival of the fittest.” Some teens live, some die.Easy to say until it’s your kid or the
child of a friend.

Yet, there is something to be said about “survival.” The teen brain is wired to take risks
and yet not be totally aware of the risks.That’s how early tribal people catapulted themselves into future
generations. The youth of the group took the most risks to defend and to provide
for the group.If one actually
thought about the risk at hand, like the herd of buffalo kicking up the dust at
foot of your dwelling – well one might duck for cover and everyone would be wiped
out.The irony of it is that these
are not the dangers that face humankind today.The muddled, growing brain of the contemporary teen might
just have too much time, too cushioned a life – where experimenting with alcohol
or drugs might just seem like the cool yet dicey thing to do on a Friday
evening with pals.No
safe-guarding of caves to be had these days.

We have the knowledge today but not necessarily the
wherewithal. Substance abuse changes the brain… why can’t we wrap our head around
that?

February 11, 2010

I have to say I’m excited
about Michelle Obama’s initiatve, Let’s Move! and the new foundation, Partners
for a Healthier America.This is
great timing for BodiMojo, the online teen health destination we are building,
with help from a Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National
Institutes of Health.But
here’s the question: if the initiative is truly about developing“a strong network of members across the
business, government, academic, and nonprofit sectors who will commit to
accelerating efforts to address childhood obesity,” how does one actually get
in front of Michelle or her group???

We’ve got a terrific online
program built with the help of teens and being testing by about 250 Massachusetts high schoolers: BodiMojo. We’ve got a story to tell and we need to
get the word out as we launch later this spring.I’m writing this on my personal blog so I can be brazen
about my calling on friends and colleagues to help me lead the way to be part
of this important national initiative. Really, I can’t afford a lobbyist.

So why teens, you ask?Because they are the toughest and
savviest group out there and they get short shrift on obesity prevention in
lieu of the “risky” stuff, like sex and drugs.Most obesity prevention programs target youngsters/tweens
and families, but really teens are a key group.(Brands and marketers know this: capture brand loyalty among
teens and you have a customer for life.)

I hear it all time, “Teens
don’t care about health!”I
honestly wonder if these people actually talk to teens.Prevention messages may fall on deaf
ears, but ask any teen if they care about their own health, and they’ll say
yes. It’s just that they see it as part of who they are, not as some separate silo
in their life they have to attend to – which is how grown-ups think (The life
checklist: job, car, gym, kids, vacation, bills, etc.).

Here’s the thing: Teens are
making their own decisions and solidifying health habits that will transfer to
young adulthood. They want to fit in, personalize their stuff, create an
identity, and be part of civic life. They have strong opinions – and for the
most part – make pretty wise decisions in spite of brain blips here and there.
They care deeply about what they look like and just about all of them have body
image concerns. In my estimation, we need to re-position “obesity prevention.”
It’s time to brand healthy decision making as part of style – your personal
charm. You know… your “mojo.”

February 09, 2010

Just as I find
myself seeped in adolescent psychology and health prevention efforts, it seems
like the issue ofteen risk taking
is perpetual in its concern and wonder.

Slate posted a
two part series on adolescent risk taking byAlan E. Kazdin and Carlo Rotella. The
first part of No Brakes! discusses the teen brain and why prevention messages
don’t work – whether it is rational reasoning by parents, health 101 in
schools, or pledges (as in virginity pledges– like, no kidding).On the other hand, they also explain that adolescent impulsivity is
really no different than the grown up versions so give these teens a
break.However, the interesting
aspect of the article is the influence of friends on decision-making and the
brain’s internal reward system being pumped by the power of peers.Kids make fairly good decisions when
alone but when moved by the sprit of the group, they can land themselves in
some pretty tricky situations.

Part 2 takes a pragmatic angle on the social-emotional brain systems of teens by providing some parenting tips.“Now, if you're expecting modern science to produce a
magic-bullet gimmick—or a pill—to contain teen risk, you're going to be
disappointed,” the authors write. And indeed, their recommendations are pretty
basic and commonsensical:Monitor
your kids, stay connected and engaged, keep them distracted, and help them to
build skills and talents. This is all very practical but most parents know that
even the best of efforts and even keel parenting might not work.

Perhaps most
interesting are the comments to the articles, which show just how darn hard it
is to be a teen or a parent.I
think back on my teen years and I truly wonder how I survived it – not that I
has a high risk taker, but I was in enough social situations and a few car
accidents that could have gone the other way.Of course, my parents had no idea – and I still won’t tell.

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Disclaimer

No information in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any health or mental health condition. The opinions expressed here are my own. If you have concerns about a personal issue please seek a consultation with a doctor.